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Over 79,000 students awarded primary scholarships with girls making up 55% of recipients

Bangladesh awards 79,246 primary scholarships, 55% to girls; stipends nearly doubled, Dhaka tops recipients while Bandarban records fewest.

FATEMA BISWAS
Over 79,000 students awarded primary scholarships with girls making up 55% of recipients
Prothom Alo
BIONIC READING

In a Nutshell:

  • Of 419,982 students who sat the exam out of 645,041 registered, 79,246 received scholarships, 32,965 under Talent Pool and 46,281 under General, against a planned target of 82,500.
  • Recipients include 35,892 boys and 43,354 girls; Dhaka district produced the most scholarship recipients (4,682), while Bandarban recorded the fewest (188).
  • The government nearly doubled scholarship benefits this year, raising the Talent Pool monthly stipend from Tk300 to Tk600 and the General stipend from Tk225 to Tk450.

Why it Matters

The government has published the 2025 Primary Scholarship Examination results, with 79,246 students awarded scholarships under the Talent Pool and General categories.

  • Girls made up 55% of scholarship winners this year, continuing a broader national trend where girls in Bangladesh have closed, and in some measures reversed, the historic gender gap in school access.
  • With scholarship stipends nearly doubled and 80% reserved for government schools, the policy directly targets financial barriers, a known driver of dropout, especially in under-resourced and rural areas.
  • Regional gaps remain stark, Bandarban recorded just 188 recipients versus Dhaka's 4,682, and Narayanganj posted the highest absentee rate at 52.80%, pointing to uneven access that increased stipends alone may not fully close.

Who it matters to

This result touches families waiting on scholarship money, schools competing for recognition, and policymakers shaping how education funding is spent nationwide.

  • With stipends nearly doubled, recipient families now get substantial relief on school-related costs like books, supplies and transport.
  • With 80% of scholarships reserved for government schools, this result reinforces where public investment in early education is concentrated, shaping how these schools are resourced and regarded.
  • Parents in Bandarban, with the lowest number of recipients, or high-absentee Narayanganj, are left facing a system where access to these opportunities still varies sharply by where a child happens to live.
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SSC results to be published at 10:00 am tomorrow